38 The Switch

The first message that popped up at the top was from the organizers of the IMC:

'Dear Sir Maximilian,

It is with great pleasure that we inform you of your exceptional achievement. Alongside another participant, you have attained the highest score among all the participating students from around the world. In recognition of your outstanding performance, we are pleased to present you with the prestigious Golden Certificate and an iPad Air as a token of our appreciation.

Congratulations on this remarkable accomplishment.'

Well... an iPad Air wasn't exactly the greatest reward I have ever heard of, but having the highest score out of all the participants would definitely bring me a great deal of recognition.

This message was followed by many others:

Professor Milik: "Congratulations, Max! Thanks to you and Nadya we ranked 2nd as a country overall. We hope to see more great achievement out of you."